Ireland to face Greece and Poland in Dublin friendly fixtures

The FAI has confirmed that Ireland will play friendlies against Greece and Poland, with the matches to be played in November and February.

Ireland meet Greece on Wednesday 14 November, a month after World Cup qualifying games with Germany and Faroe Islands.

A 6 February encounter with Poland will provide preparation for the qualifiers with Sweden and Austria in late March.

Ireland has played Greece twice before, losing once and drawing once. By comparison, Ireland has played Poland 23 times, winning five, drawing eight and losing ten of those matches.

An FAI statement claims the first match of 2013 for Ireland will be "a reunion with their Polish counterparts and an opportunity to relive the spirit of Poznan and Gdansk”.

This afternoon, Giovanni Trapattoni welcomed the fixtures.

“These matches provide me with a very important opportunity to work with the squad and test ourselves against strong European opposition in preparation for the pivotal World Cup Qualification double header against Sweden and Austria in March 2013.”